Marshmallows! Who Would Have Thought?

www.dennismook.com

On my recent coast to coast road trip, my buddy and I were traveling through a Midwestern state which shall go unnamed, for reasons to be explained shortly.  It was a rainy day, really a miserable one, we were on a very rural road and were passing the time by chatting about various topics, most of which are irrelevant to anything.  We were just driving, relaxing and talking as we crossed the country.

All of a sudden, on our left, I saw something I had never seen before.  I wasn't sure what it was, so I shouted to my buddy to STOP THE CAR!  Bewildered, he simultaneously hit the brakes and asked what was going on?  I said, "Look over there."  "What the heck are those large white things in the field."  There was a farmer's field filled with large white objects which, at the time, were unidentifiable to me.  He had pulled the car over to the shoulder and we both got out and walked across the highway to get a better look.  We still didn't know what we were looking at.

So happened, the farmer who owned the land was riding his tractor and in the process of gathering up the objects.  I guess he saw us standing there in the rain and pointing to the objects so he drove over.  As he turned the engine off and stepped off the tractor, I said to him "We didn't mean to bother you, but what are those things in your field?"  He replied, "Well, I'll tell you but you have to swear to keep it a secret."  What in the world....?

My buddy promised secrecy, but I pretended to be distracted said nothing.  He started to tell us a story about how the general public has no idea of where marshmallows came from.  He pointed to his field and said that those large white objects are marshmallow mushrooms.  He told us he has grown them in this remote field for years and almost no traffic comes down this road, so hardly anyone sees them.  He went on to say that he harvests them once per year during the rainy season as that is when he can pull them from their stalks more easily and lift them with the forks on the front of his tractor.  After harvesting them, he moves them inside where they are placed into large containers to be transported to the factory for processing.  At the factory, he said, the marshmallow mushrooms are sanitized, sterilized, pasteurized, moisturized and cut into the small, familiar objects we buy by the bag in the store.  Because these marshmallow mushrooms are a result of genetic engineering, they try to keep the entire industry a secret for fear of a backlash.  That is why he asked us not to disclose where his farm is or what he grows. 

I asked him his name and he refused to give it to me.  I did notice, however, that during his entire story, his tongue was firmly planted in his cheek.  I'm thinking that is probably a result of him consuming vast quantities of these marshmallow mushrooms. 

I'm glad I made no such promise as I think that the general public deserves to know what is going on in the hinterlands.  I won't say where his operation is, strictly for his safety, but I assure you that this genetically engineered marshmallow mushroom is being sold in every locality and probably around the world.  Frankly, I find the entire episode shocking!  No more marshmallows for me.

Enjoy!

Thanks for looking.
Dennis Mook